Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As part of Government’s continued investment in improving our rail network, the DART+ programme will extend and enhance the current DART system and services west to Maynooth and Celbridge-Hazelhatch. The DART+ fleet project will also introduce electric and battery electric units to the DART network over time, and may allow for the introduction of DART services in County Kildare in advance of the electrification of lines.

While the existing Iarnród Éireann operational fleet is already fully deployed on scheduled services, delivery of an additional 41 intercity railcars, ICRs, commenced late last year. I am pleased to confirm that these will begin entering service early next year. As the ICRs are intermediate carriages, they will facilitate the lengthening of existing train sets and will serve to enhance passenger capacity across the rail network. A further two initial orders, totalling 185 electric and battery-electric carriages for the DART+ fleet, were placed in December 2021 with 95 carriages ordered. A further 90 carriages were ordered in December 2022, with up to 750 carriages in total to be ordered over the coming decade. The first 95 carriages will arrive from mid-2024 and will enter service from 2025. Decisions on the deployment of the ICRs will be made in the coming weeks and months, and will be based on current and projected passenger demand and infrastructure capacity, subject to the approval of the NTA. The ICRs will increase Dublin area capacity, and see commuter and intercity carriages currently in use on commuter services allocated to other routes, to increase the capacity and frequency of services. I agree with the Deputy that the growing demand across the network must be accommodated, and believe that these new carriages and redeployment of existing carriages will greatly help to address the issues in the coming years.

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